CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Simmons College women's basketball team was defeated by host Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 72-40, this evening at Rockwell Cage in Cambridge, Mass. The Sharks fall to 7-14 on the season, while the Engineers have won 10 of their last 12 and improve to 16-6.
MIT shot 57.9% (33-57) from the floor, while holding a 40-27 rebounding advantage.
Senior forward Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, Mass.) was a basket short of a double-double to lead Simmons with eight points and 10 rebounds to go with a pair of steals and an assist, while going 4-8 from the field. Junior forward Liz Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) chipped in with seven points, four rebounds and two steals and first year guard Francesca Corsinetti (Johnston, R.I.) chipped in with seven points, three assists and a rebound.
Senior guard Sabrina Drammis (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) led all scorers with 20 points on 10-15 from the floor and pulled down 10 boards for her third double-double of the year in addition four steals, an assist and a blocked shot to lead the Engineers. First year forward Sophie Gershon (New York, N.Y.) came off the bench to net 12 points on 5-7 shooting, grab four rebounds, block a shot and hand out an assist in 18 minutes, while first year guard Kara Holinski (Livonia, Mich.) scored 12 points on 5-9 from the field as well to go with a pair of steals.
Corsinetti knocked down a three-pointer to give the Sharks an early 5-2 lead with 1:46 gone in the opening quarter, but MIT responded with 15 unanswered points, fueled by six points from Drammis and five from first year guard Kristen Ngan (Sudbury, Mass.), to take a 17-5 advantage with 2:20 left in the first period. The home team took a 19-9 lead into the second quarter.
Brasa later hit a jumper to pull Simmons to within 29-19 at the 6:02 mark of the second quarter. The Engineers scored 13 of the next 15 points, led by 11 combined points from Drammis (six) and Holinski (five), to increase their cushion to 42-21, before Alberghini converted a lay-up at the buzzer for the Sharks to head into the break with a 42-23 score.
MIT maintained a 47-27 lead with six minutes to play in the third period, before closing out the quarter with a 13-3 stretch to take a 60-30 advantage into the final quarter of play.
The Engineers held onto their margin at 62-32 before Simmons reeled off five straight points to cut the deficit to 62-37 with 7:14 on the clock. MIT held the visitors scoreless over the next 6:15, while scoring eight straight points. First year guard Alex Kay (Forked River, N.J.) ended the drought for the Sharks with her first collegiate three-pointer coming with 59 ticks left on the clock to make it 70-40. It was the last field goal of the night for Simmons as the Engineers secured the win.
The Sharks will be in action again on Saturday, February 13 when they cross Brookline Avenue to take on Great Northeast Athletic Conference rival Emmanuel College at 1:00 p.m., while MIT heads to Springfield, Mass. on the same day for a Noon tip-off at Springfield College.